Ireland fared well in the first event at the World Transplant Games in Perth, Australia, in the 5km race.
Mairead O'Mahony from Berrings, Cork, who underwent a bone marrow transplant when she was just 18 years old thanks to her donor brother, won Silver in her age category (40-49 years) with a finish time of 24.55. This was her first ever time for the mother of one to represent her country in Transplant sport. Taking Gold in the same race age category was Australian Kate Clark and in position was Lan Zheng from China.
In an interview shown on the Transplant Team Ireland facebook page directly after her race, before her time and second place was confirmed, Mairead O'Mahony was asked about how she felt about her first ever event and she responded, "Amazing, amazing. I was very nervous beforehand. But once I started I just ran my own race. I think I did okay. My watch failed on me so I don't know what I did. I'm really happy, really happy. And it's my first games so I'm very happy".
